2025 was another successful year for the Pomegranates Festival, which ran from 25th to 30th April. The packed five-day programme of traditional dance, saw ticket sales up by 40% on 2024; a sold-out Ceilidh Plus event mixing Scottish, Hungarian and Polish social dancing; and a packed house for Charlotte McLean’s new not for glory dance … Continued

Exhibition Review by Catherine Coutts     Do I really want to go to see an exhibition about masks? At the start of the decade, masks (the ugly type with elastic bands, which cannot be recycled and were often to be found littering almost everywhere) were a topic of significant discussion. How effective and necessary were … Continued

The Scottish Wildlife Trust, in association with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, returns with the successful Words of the Wild nature writing competition. What’s the theme?  The competition – which this year is themed ‘From source to sea’ – invites participants to create original written works about Scotland’s freshwater and marine habitats. Entries can be … Continued

TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland) is looking for a committed, dynamic and experienced Chair to lead its Board of Trustees from Autumn 2025. TRACS is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. We have recently been awarded Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland to … Continued

Everyone is talking about “Intangible Cultural Heritage”, but what is it and why is it important? We’ve put together a Wee Guide to Intangible Cultural Heritage to answer some of the frequently asked questions. A Wee Guide to Intangible Cultural Heritage What is Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)? Simply put, you might know it as “tradition”. … Continued

We are delighted to announce Masks – this year’s Pomegranates Festival exhibition, which features over 20 hand-crafted Venetian and world dance masks created by Edinburgh-based artist Lorraine Pritchard. The exhibition is complemented by a new documentary film by Franzis Sánchez from this year’s Venice Carnival. The exhibition reflects the dual focus of our Pomegranates Festival … Continued

SISF 2025 will take place from Wednesday 22nd October to Saturday 1st November. This year we look to our northern cousins under the theme ‘Lights of the North’. SISF now invites two kinds of proposals for consideration: SISF 2025 programme: Storytelling event proposals aligning with this year’s theme and meeting SISF’s core purpose, aims and … Continued

The Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is delighted to announce full details of our fourth Pomegranates Festival which will run from Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 April 2025 at various venues across Edinburgh. The Pomegranates Festival in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) and Moray House School of Education and Sport, at the … Continued

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is delighted to be delivering another cycle of TRACS Traditional Arts Mentoring, with the support of Creative Scotland and partners. This programme supports the professional and personal development of traditional arts practitioners in Scotland, reinforcing TRACS’ key work in enhancing the knowledge, practice, access and sustainability of music, song, … Continued

To celebrate the life and learnings of revolutionary 19th and 20th century Scottish social thinker Patrick Geddes, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in partnership with the Sir Patrick Geddes Trust is holding a day of workshops, screenings, talks and discussions as part of Edinburgh’s 900 programme on Saturday, 22 February. The day looks to the … Continued